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Daily Archives: 18/10/2018

Every state is required the Clean Water Act to establish all seriously “impaired” or “polluted” water bodies after every two years. Every polluted water bodies together with its associated contaminants are put by the states in what is referred to as the “303(d) list”. This list is maintained and updated in California by the State Water Board and Regional Water Boards. Thirty-five years have passed since the Clean Water Act was created and still yet, many of the California beaches are still contaminated. This problem is not getting any better. From the information that has been already gathered through research; it is important that we stop the California beaches pollution because our life and health depends on it and the life of other living organisms that live on these beaches.

When water losses its strength of providing beneficial uses because of the introduced superfluous materials that are dangerous to humans, animals and aquatic life due to human activity, the water is said to have been polluted. Daily, water is used for so many purposes that are helpful to human such as cooking, drinking, fertilization of crops, and watering livestock among other things. The other uses include food production, industry, and recreational uses. It is evident that water is a very important resource for humans, animals, and plants. Water pollution does not spare anyone or anything, and this is the reason why it should be stopped. Pollution of the California beaches has a bad effect on everything that depends on them and their waters. California beaches are visited by so many people for relaxation, recreation, and sports. According to research that was conducted by The Natural Resources Defense Council on the California beaches in 2011, it was established that there is an increase and advisories on these beaches because of pollution. California beaches are being polluted and ruined by drainage and sewage waste. When this sewage combines with storm water, the swimmers exposed to infections, sicknesses, and diseases. It is so sad that the general public is punished for doing what they love and trying to have a good time with their families. The pollution that happens at the Californian beaches ends up into the water, and this puts divers and surfers at great risks of contracting illness when they come into contact with the contaminated beach water.

The polluted beach water contains a lot of disease-causing organisms which are commonly known as pathogens. Enteric pathogens are the ones that are found in the human intestine, and they can cause or carry a couple of infectious diseases. When a swimmer comes into contact with the sewage-polluted water from the beaches, he/she could contact any illness that can be spread through migration and inadvertent ingestion of fecal-contaminated water. Viruses are also thought to be a major cause of diseases that are associated with swimming in the polluted California beaches’ water; they are responsible for various cases of hepatitis, gastroenteritis, respiratory illness, and throat, ear, and nose problems. Other microbial diseases that swimmers can contract when they swim in the polluted California waters include shigellosis, salmonellosis, and infection brought about by E. coli. The other microbial pathogens that are there in varying concentrations in the Californian recreational water include protozoa and amoeba, which can bring about giardiasis, skin rashes, amoebic dysentery, and pink eye. It is evident that the pollution Californian beaches are of great concern to human health hence it is very important that the issue is addressed with the urgency that it deserves.

Common items such as fishing line, six-pack rings and strapping bands that are as a result of pollution can interfere with the mobility of marine animals, and this can lead to injuries. Once the pollution from the beaches is released into the water, animals experience breathing, eating and swimming; all of which have devastating results. Since plastics are non-biodegradable, they continue trapping and killing animals yearly. Mammals, fish, and birds usually mistake plastic for food. When they consume plastic, they are choked, and this leads to injuries. Plastics fill their stomachs, and this gives the animals a false feeling of being full and they may end up dying of starvation. Plastic bags are usually mistaken by sea turtles for jellyfish, one of the foods that they like most. Gray whales have not been left behind on this given that they have been found dead with sheeting and plastic bags in their stomachs. A study that was conducted recently with harbor seals found that more than 12% of the seals had plastic bags in their stomachs. The pollutants that come from the California beaches at times provide a different and increased way of transport for the species across vast ocean distances. This causes problems to biodiversity when the species that are introduced prove to be invasive. The pollution from the California beaches more than doubled the “rafting” chances for species. Beach water pollution is not just a problem for ocean surface water. These pollutants are also found on the floor of the ocean, and these include metal cans, plastic bags, glass bottles, fishing equipment, shoes, and tires. This clearly shows that the pollution that takes place at the California beaches negatively affects the living things that are found in the ocean.

For a very long time, California has been battling the problem that takes place at beaches. In this fight, it is important for the California to rethink of how to dump efficiently approximately a trillion gallons of the polluted urban runoff every year into the ocean alongside California’s most fabled beaches. It has been noted that during the summer months, the California beaches are usually relatively clean unlike during the winter rains when the entire region of the coast suffers. The state should construct proper drainage systems that will be able to channel the storm waters into the sewerage systems that are there. The capacity of storm water drainage system also needs to be expanded to facilitate the surplus water during winter so as to avoid it from washing waste to the beaches. This can best be achieved by the construction of a network of concrete waterways that can prevent flooding from directing towards the ocean.

The state should also provide adequate funds to help in fighting this pollution. This should also include legislation that will force water testing and also the posting of unsafe conditions at the California beaches. The Environmental Protection Agency should also come up with minimum quality standards for recreational waters. It will also be important for the public to access information regarding water-quality. Jobs should also be provided to assist in enforcing regulations regarding pollutant runoff and discharge. The state can also resolve to public awareness campaigns that can be used to urge residents to thinks twice before releasing something to their gutters. The general public will become more cautious when they learn it’s about public health and the environment. The government also needs to come up with stiffer rules on waste disposal in the region and the government agencies must strictly enforce them. This implies that Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board must enforce these regulations. Large industrial organizations and big construction sites must comply with the stormwater regulations. Measures also must be established so as to limit the discharge of litter and the municipal permits should also be enforced on runoff levels.

The residents of the state can not only care about how to pick a good titles for essays about yourself, but also help greatly in reducing the California beaches pollutions. This can be achieved simply by changing their lifestyles. They can vow to refuse disposable, reuse, reduce and recycle materials at work, home and in school. They can also purchase reusable products and products that are manufactured from materials that can be recycled with no or very little packaging as this will greatly help in reducing the amount of waste that will need to be disposed of. Personal care products that contain microbeads can also be avoided. If it has not been indicated on the package, you may need to look for plastic indicated in the gradients. They will need look for polyethylene, polypropylene, polymethyl methacrylate or polyethylene terephthalate. Natural fibers should also be chosen over synthetic fibers whenever possible more so for things that will need to be washed on a regular basis. The storm drains will have to be cleaned regularly since they usually drain to waterways and into the ocean. The state must also ensure that cigarette butts are kept out of the streets and the beaches to avoid them being carried away with runoff when it rains. Fishing lines, nets, and hooks should also be properly disposed of. If possible, people should be encouraged to recycle their monofilament fishing line. Every individual in the region should be familiar with the proposed and potential government action that may lead to the pollution at the beaches, and this includes smoking and plastic bag bans, bottle bills, extended producer responsibility laws, street sweeping policies among others.

When all the following are adhered to, the pollution of the California beaches can be a thing of the past and it is important that all the government agencies and the general public play an active role in helping to realize this goal since this pollution are great concern as much as human health and animal survival are involved.